There are an increasing number of thin film and thick film materials which, in their application to devices of all types, depend on properties dependent on their anisotropic physical properties, or which require low-angle grain boundaries between grains. Thus, these materials must be deposited in special orientations in order to utilize their properties. The present method of achieving this is to epitaxially deposit onto carefully selected single crystal substrates with matching lattice constants and chemical compatibility.
Ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) has shown promise as means to produce textured films on non-epitaxial substrates that can then subsequently be used as a structural template for the deposition of other films, eliminating the requirement of single crystalline substrates. The material commonly used has been (100)-oriented Yttria-Stabilized-Zirconia (YSZ). However, the texturing of (100) YSZ evolves slowly, so a thick film (&gt;0.5 .mu.m) is required to achieve good in-plane alignment (.about.13.degree.), limiting the application of YSZ due to high processing time and cost. Other materials, characterized by rock salt and rock salt-like structures, have been considered potentially advantageous for use as templates for forming well textured layers such as superconducting films due to their simple crystal lattice which tends to naturally align with a preferred surface for subsequent growth of textured films {(001) type sheet axis}. Rock salt structures tend to have a reasonable lattice match with films such as YBCO and PZT which make them attractive for a variety of electronic and electrical applications. In addition, the simple chemistry of these structures makes them easier to process than the more complex multi-cation structures. By "rock-salt material" is meant a structure having a cF8 Pearson symbol and a B1 Sturukturbericht designation. Typical rock salt materials are described, for example, by "Metals Handbook, Ninth Edition", volume 9, p707-711, which pages are herein incorporated in their entirety by reference , and by C. S. Barrett and T. B. Massalski, "Structure of Metals", McGrawHill, 3rd edition, 1966, p.240-241, which pages are herein incorporated in their entirety by reference. Exemplary rock salt materials include CaO, SrO, TiN, ZrO, and BaO. By "rock-salt-like material" is meant a material with a crystalline structure with atomic arrangements identical to or similar to that in rock-salt, such as cubic structures with (100) close-packed planes or cubic structures in which a part of the lattice (some planes) has the same atomic arrangement as in rock-salt. Examples, in addition to rock salt materials, are rock-salt superstructure B1, cubic superlattice LI.sub.2 spinel superlattice H1.sub.1, and perovskites & perovskite superstructures E2.sub.1. Exemplary compounds with rock-salt superstructure B1 are LiNiO.sub.2, and LiInO.sub.2. Typical cubic superlattice LI.sub.2 compounds are Ni.sub.3 Al, Au.sub.3 Cu, AlZr.sub.3, etc. Typical spinet superlattice H1.sub.1 compounds are MgAl.sub.2 O.sub.4, and .gamma.-Al.sub.2 O.sub.3. Typical perovskites & perovskite superstructures E2.sub.1 compounds are SrTiO.sub.3, CaTiO.sub.3, NdGaO.sub.3, LaAlO.sub.3, SrZrO.sub.3, BaZrO.sub.3, and SrRuO.sub.3. However, at present, these materials are typically used either in expensive single crystal forms or as epitaxially grown films which must be produced upon substrates which themselves exhibit a biaxially textured surface.